Inspire the Learner, Ignite the Potential

Curriculum

A school district's curriculum is at the heart of the educational process. It is the substance and essence of what is being taught. Great efforts are made to ensure that all material taught in our classrooms is appropriate and educationally valuable to our students.

Our school district has long maintained a curriculum review process through which we research and evaluate new materials and resources, carefully analyzing their impact on student learning and ensuring alignment to state and national standards.

Priority Standards and Learning Targets

Staff in Forest Lake Area Schools are participating in a process to "unpack" the Minnesota Academic Standards, determining Priority Standards and developing Learning Targets for each content area to frame lesson objectives from the students' perspective. These priority standards and learning targets will create a foundation for a guaranteed and viable learning experience for all students.

To determine priority standards, teachers evaluate each grade level or content-area standard for endurance (value beyond a single test date), leverage (value in multiple disciplines), readiness (necessary for success in the next grade level or instructional level) and high test value (appearance on state exams).

A learning target describes the standard from a student's point of view. Teacher teams work collaboratively to develop learning targets that clearly indicate student learning targets for each of the priority standards.

Below are some of the learning targets developed to this point for K-6.